Everything You Need to Know About the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max: Should You Buy?
Table of Contents
Should You Buy the iPhone 16 Pro?
The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are Apple's high end flagship iPhones released in 2024, sold alongside the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. Along with the launch of the iPhone 17 lineup in September 2025, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max were discontinued.Although Apple has discontinued these models, you may still be able to find some through resellers at discounted prices. The 6.3 inch iPhone 16 Pro and 6.9 inch iPhone 16 Pro Max will still be around for years to come, but there's simply no room in Apple's lineup to continue selling them at prices between the latest flagship and the cheaper iPhone 16 and iPhone 16e options.
The iPhone 16 Pro starts at $999, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at $1,199 and up. The Pro Max has long been Apple's most expensive iPhone, but it comes with a longer lasting battery, a larger screen, and a larger starting storage capacity of 256GB. These are Apple's most advanced iPhone models for 2024, with all the latest features. Apple designed them for professionals, and both have the fastest chips and the best camera technology, although they have, of course, been surpassed by the new iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max.
Choosing an iPhone can be difficult, so we have a series of buyer's guides to walk you through all the features. You can also check out our iPhone deals post to get the best prices.
Introduced in September 2024, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are Apple's latest high end flagship smartphones, sold alongside the more affordable iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. The iPhone 16 Pro models have a more comprehensive suite of features not available on the standard iPhone 16 devices, including more advanced camera technology, better displays, a faster A18 Pro chip, and more.
Display
For the first time in years, Apple has updated the sizes of the iPhone 16 Pro models. The iPhone 16 Pro has a 6.3 inch display, up from 6.1 inches, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max has a 6.9 inch display, up from 6.7 inches. Due to the new screen sizes, the iPhone 16 models are slightly taller, heavier, and wider than the iPhone 15 Pro models, but some of that change is achieved through significantly reduced bezels.Like the iPhone 15 Pro models, the iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium alloy frame, which is more scratch and drop resistant than stainless steel. The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are available in titanium black, natural titanium, titanium white, and desert titanium, which is a gold color.
Aside from the larger screen sizes, there are no design changes to the iPhone 16 Pro models. The devices have the same contoured edges, and the front of the display is protected by second generation Ceramic Shield material, which Apple claims is 50 percent stronger than the previous Ceramic Shield.
Apple is using the same Super Retina XDR Display from last year with Always On display technology and a 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate, but now supports a minimum brightness of 1 nit. The iPhone 16 Pro Max has a resolution of 2868x1320, while the iPhone 16 Pro has a resolution of 2622x1206. Aside from slimmer bezels and a change in minimum brightness, there are no changes to the display, and it also features the same Dynamic Island design at the top.
Feature
Each iPhone 16 Pro model has a USB-C port offering the same USB 3 transfer speeds of up to 10Gb/s as the iPhone 15 Pro models. With the USB-C port, the iPhone can be used to charge AirPods or an Apple Watch directly. Improved 25W MagSafe charging has been added with the new MagSafe Charger. 15W Qi2 charging is also supported.The customizable Action button introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro is also available on the iPhone 16 Pro models and can be set to one of several functions, such as launching the camera, turning on the flashlight, recording a Voice Memo, or activating a Shortcut. The Action button connects to Dynamic Island for visual feedback that accompanies haptic feedback.
Apple added a new Camera Control button, similar to the Action button for the Camera. This button is touch and pressure sensitive and can be used to launch the camera and take photos, record videos, and adjust various camera settings. Apple mimics the shutter button on a DSLR camera, and it works more or less the same way. Third party apps can also take advantage of the Camera Control button.
Starting with iOS 18.2, Camera Control can be used for visual intelligence, a new AI feature that can inform users about objects and places. Point the camera at an object, then click and hold Camera Control to get more information. For restaurants, visual intelligence displays information such as operating hours and menus.
Camera
The 48 megapixel Fusion Camera has a quad pixel sensor that Faster. Like the previous iPhone 15 Pro camera, there's a default 24 megapixel image resolution, offering high quality images with a practical file size. The Fusion Camera can be adjusted to a variety of focal lengths, including 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm, and there's the option to capture 48 megapixel HEIF images, which take up less space than RAW images.
There's a new 48 megapixel Ultra Wide camera that lets in more light for sharper photos in macro mode. Both iPhone 16 Pro models feature an improved 5x Telephoto lens with a tetraprism design this year.
A variety of next generation Photographic Styles are available, allowing users to directly adjust color, highlights, and shadows. Adjustments can be applied to specific colors, rather than the entire image, and Apple allows for more detailed control over the intensity and hue of the effect. Styles can be displayed during the live preview or added after the photo is taken.
The quad pixel sensor can read data 2x faster, enabling no shutter lag for ProRAW or 48MP HEIF images. This sensor also delivers 4K 120fps video recording in Dolby Vision, a first for a smartphone. 4K 120fps video can be recorded in video or slow motion mode, and playback speed can be adjusted after capture. In addition to spatial video, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max can also capture spatial photos for Vision Pro.
Video is recorded with Spatial Audio for more immersive sound with AirPods or Vision Pro, and a new Audio Mix feature allows post recording sound adjustments to focus on the voices of the people on camera, making the video sound like it was shot in a professional studio, or to place vocal tracks in the foreground and ambient sounds in surround sound. Wind noise cancellation reduces unwanted noise to improve audio quality, and the iPhone 16 Pro features studio quality microphones for more immersive audio.
Chips A18 Pro
The new A18 Pro chip is built on the second generation 3nm node with smaller transistors for greater efficiency and performance. It features a 6 core CPU with two efficiency cores and four performance cores, as well as an improved 6 core GPU. It features a 16 core Neural Engine optimized for machine learning tasks and Apple Intelligence features, as well as a 17 percent increase in total system memory bandwidth. The next generation ML accelerator is optimized for Apple Intelligence and handles high efficiency, high throughput, and low latency computations on the CPU without involving the Neural Engine.
The CPU is up to 15 percent faster than the A17 Pro CPU, and the GPU is up to 20 percent faster. The internal design is redesigned with a new aluminum substructure and glass back optimizations to improve heat dissipation and chip performance. With a new thermal design and improvements to the A18 Pro chip, the A18 Pro supports up to 20 percent better sustained performance. Hardware accelerated ray tracing is up to 2x faster.
The CPU is up to 15 percent faster than the A17 Pro CPU, and the GPU is up to 20 percent faster. The internal design is redesigned with a new aluminum substructure and glass back optimizations to improve heat dissipation and chip performance. With a new thermal design and improvements to the A18 Pro chip, the A18 Pro supports up to 20 percent better sustained performance. Hardware accelerated ray tracing is up to 2x faster.